There’s so much on the docket for this week’s #WEEKENDWRAP, we suggest you sit back with a warm cappuccino and relive the pro, collegiate, and junior achievements in #SoCalTennis over the past week!

Beginning with the pro ranks, Steve Johnson (Redondo Beach) defended his Houston crown on Sunday to notch his third career win on the ATP Tour. He is the first player in 16 years to repeat as winner of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, and Johnson more than earned the trophy with consecutive wins over a bevy of American talents, including Ernesto Escobedo (West Covina), Frances Tiafoe, World #9 John Isner, Taylor Fritz (Palos Verdes), and finalist Tennys Sandgren.

San Diego’s Henry Craig was a doubles finalist and singles quarterfinalist at the US Futures event in Little Rock, following up a semifinal performance in Memphis one week prior.

Ashley Kratzer (Newport Beach) was a quarterfinalist at the US Pro Circuit in Pelham, Ala. Kratzer reached her career high ranking (#281) in March.

 

 

Coco Vandeweghe (Rancho Santa Fe) and Sloane Stephens lead the US against host France in Fed Cup competition, joined by Madison Keys and a resurgent Bethanie Mattek Sands. Danielle Lao (Arcadia) plays a WTS Series event in China, while Kayla Day (Santa Barbara) is among the top draws at the Pro Circuit event in Dothan, Ala.

In Monaco, Jared Donaldson (Irvine) and the Bryan Brothers (Camarillo) compete for an ATP Masters crown, while JC Aragone (Yorba Linda) and Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) are in Florida for the Sarasota Open. Glendale’s Alex Sarkissian plays an ATP Challenger in Guadalajara.

In collegiate action, the USTA top-ranked Men’s UCLA Bruins swept a weekend series against Arizona and Arizona State, securing an undefeated road schedule within the PAC-12. The team will hope to lock up the PAC-12 title this Friday against Utah at L.A. Tennis Center. The Bruins are 22-2 overall, and 7-0 in conference play.

The Men’s team at USC tallied the same results in sweeping a trip to Arizona last week. The Trojans are a strong 5-2 in conference play, and will also meet Utah this weekend to close the regular season schedule. USC is 14-7 overall.

The Women of Troy travel from USC to UCLA this Saturday for a rivalry showdown in Westwood. The Bruins are even with Stanford in the win column at 8-1, but the undefeated ST face Cal on Friday in hopes of fighting off UCLA atop the PAC-12 rankings. USC trails Cal in the overall conference rankings by one win, so this week’s results could create some last minute action in the rankings for #SoCalTennis college squads.

At the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla., UC San Diego finished in fourth place overall at the Tennis on Campus National Championships – fourth in the country and tops among SoCal entries – after a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals to eventual National Champions Ohio State. The Tritons earned their bid to Nationals after finishing third at the Section Championship in San Diego back in February. They were joined in competition last week by UCLA, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and San Diego State.

At the Maze Cup hosted by Berkeley Tennis Club, a SoCal team of 16-18 year old boys and girls won bragging rights at the prestigious annual tournament against rival NorCal. Our SoCal squad was comprised of winners from both the Henry Talbert Tournament and Fullerton Tournament, along with two players selected by the Section. The winning roster included Anne Lutkemeyer, Justine Dondonay, Kimmie Hance, Anessa Lee, Charlotte Chavatipon, Stefan Dostanic, Eric Hahn, Bryan Kulikov, Zachary Svajda, and Alex Petrov.